SLU Associate Professor of Internal Medicine Named Society of Hospital of Medicine’s ‘Unsung Hero’
ST. LOUIS — Farzana Hoque, M.D., associate professor of internal medicine and acting internship co-director at Saint Louis University’s School of Medicine, will receive the Society of Hospital of Medicine’s (SHM) Unsung Hero award. SHM awards only one award under this category annually.
Hoque is the president of SHM’s St. Louis Chapter. The Unsung Hero award is given to a chapter leader who has positively influenced SHM behind the scenes with a positive attitude and a willingness to support other chapter members. The award will be presented at the 2024 SHM annual meeting in San Diego, California, on April 14.
Farzana Hoque, M.D., associate professor of internal medicine and acting internship co-director at Saint Louis University’s School of Medicine, will receive the Society of Hospital of Medicine’s Unsung Hero award. Photo by Sarah Conroy.
Under Hoque’s leadership, she spearheaded collaborative initiatives and actively pursued efforts to improve diversity, equity and inclusion within her chapter. In 2021, she served as the only woman on the St. Louis Chapter board, and she has increased the representation of women hospitalist board members during her presidency. She also inaugurated the Visionary Leadership award to honor outstanding hospitalist leaders annually, inspiring and engaging hospitalists across Missouri.
There are 25,000 hospitalists in the US, who are board-certified physicians who provide acute, comprehensive medical care to complex hospitalized patients and co-manage patients with surgical specialties. They are also engaged in teaching, research, and leadership.
“The intersectionality of Hoque's diverse lived experiences enriches her initiatives and interactions within the medical community,” said Gwendolyn Williams, M.D., president of SHM’s Hampton Roads Chapter. “Her road has been paved with hardships, yet she did not let discouragement prevent her from answering the call of medicine, showing grace in the most challenging of circumstances.”
Hoque was born in Bangladesh and received her doctorate at Dhaka University, Bangladesh. She moved to the United States to do her residency at St. Luke’s, and she joined SLU in 2018 after completing residency training. In addition to her position on the faculty at SLU in the Division of Hospital Medicine, she is a member of the Faculty Senate and is the inaugural Medical Director of Bordley Tower of SSM Health Saint Louis University Hospital.
Hoque volunteers at St. Louis CRUSH (Community Resources United to Stop Heroin), providing vital resources in the fight against the heroin crisis in the St. Louis community. Her goal is to inspire future physicians, by volunteering at multiple not-for-profit organizations, including Tour for Diversity in Medicine and The Student National Medical Association. She also mentors underrepresented undergraduate students aspiring to be physicians, including high school students from the Collegiate School of Medicine & Bioscience, who shadow her to gain firsthand clinical experience.
"As an educator, she always presents herself with humility and kindness," said Tejas Sangoi, M.D., treasurer of SHM's St. Louis Chapter. "While she leads her medical team and chapter board with poise, she is always open to self-education, separating herself from the assumed hierarchy to treat everyone on her team equally."
Hoque was named to the St. Louis Business Journal’s 40 Under 40 List last year and she was nominated by SSM Health Saint Louis University Hospital nurses to throw out the Ceremonial First Pitch at a St. Louis Cardinals game at Busch Stadium in recognition of her outstanding patient care and dedicated service to the community.
Latest Newslink
- Saint Louis University Staff, Faculty Participate in Civil Rights Immersion TripSupported by the Office of Mission and Identity, Saint Louis University employees recently participated in a Civil Rights immersion trip. The group of nine, led by Patrick Cousins, pastoral formation director in Mission and Identity, took a road trip from SLU’s campus in St. Louis to sites in Tennessee, Alabama and Georgia after the spring semester ended.
- Saint Louis University Provides a Space for Religious Discernment to FlourishSaint Louis University provides an institutional framework to support men and women seeking religious vocations. Founded in 1889, SLU’s College of Philosophy and Letters oversees undergraduate and graduate programs oriented by the Jesuit commitment to intelligent service of faith and justice in dialogue with culture. The programs provide the philosophical and intellectual background needed for further studies in theology and ministry for future priests and nuns, as well as engaged laity within the Catholic Church.
- Helen De Cruz, Ph.D.: 1978-2025Helen De Cruz, Ph.D., the Danforth Chair in the Humanities at Saint Louis University, died Friday, June 20, 2025. She was 46. The Belgian-born philosopher examined why and how humans engage in pursuits that seem remote from the immediate concerns of survival and reproduction, such as theology, mathematics, and science.
- 'I am More Than Just a Refugee': A SLU Student Shares His StoryThe Saint Louis University-Jesuit Worldwide Learning (SLU-JWL) program offers remote bachelor's degrees to international students displaced by conflict, lack of opportunity, and poverty in places such as refugee camps in Kenya and Malawi. One student, Dictor Olame, reflected on his experience as a SLU student in the Kakuma refugee camp in North-Western Kenya.
- SLU Supports St. Louis by Hosting City's Tornado Relief CenterIn the weeks following a devastating tornado that tore through St. Louis on May 16, hundreds of households have turned to a centralized Disaster Assistance Center (DAC) at Chaifetz Arena for assistance.
- Persistence Pays Off for Fulbright Award RecipientAnuj Gandhi is a Fulbright Scholar. A year after being chosen as an alternate, Gandhi has been chosen for a Fulbright-Nehru Student Research Award. With the Award, the recent Saint Louis University graduate intends to "investigate how globalization-based acculturation influences Indian young adults' attitudes toward mental health and treatment options."
